Artificial tree bark and method of making



Dec. 1, 1942. H. w. MENARD ARTIFICIAL TREE-BARK AND METHOD OF MAKING Filed July 21, 1941 Vent-07;,

Patented Dec. 1, 1942 ARTIFICIAL TREE BARK'AND METHOD OF MAKING Henry William Menard Los Angeles, Calif assignor to Menard & Tabery, Inc., Los Angeles, Calm, a corporation of California Application July -21, 1941, Serial No. 403,350

8 Claims. o1. 41-34) This invention is an article of manufacture simulative of the natural bark of a tree, and the method for the production of the article.

An object of the invention is to produce and provide a tree-bark simulative, sheet stock material which has a surface both in appearance and to the touch having the characteristics of treebark, such for instance as the bark of cedar.

A further object of the invention is to provide a highly effective method and product of treebark feature whereby to enable the construction of various articles of bark, or of tree, type and which are inexpensive both as to labor and ma terial costs.

Another object is to provide a very natural appearing bark-body product which is light in weight, is flexible and substantial, which can be affixed to flat or to curved surfaces very easily and rapidly by various afiixing means, as by tacking, stappling or pasting, can be readily handled and is flat-packing for storage or shipment, can be made in large, unitary panels or sheets to effect minimum seaming over large areas, can be cut into desired shape pieces by ordinary hand shears, and is highly fire resistive and damp proof as to color and body, that is, is very durable.

, The invention consists in certain advancements in the art of tree-bark simulation as to touch and appearance as set forth in the following disclosure and having, with the above, additional objects and advantages as hereinafter developed, and which method and article constructions,

combinations and details of means, and the mantions may be resorted to within the spirit, scope and principle of the invention as it is more particularly claimed presently.

Fig. 1 is broken-away face elevation of the article,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view across the strip ele- 1 ments.

In this method there is first produced by any suitable manner a suitable amount of elongate strips 2 from any appropriate cloth, paper or other fibrous sheet or other form of stock; the

longitudinal edges of the strips preferably being generally straight but quite ragged in kind with the indefinite edges of tree bark, particularly cedar. inch width but are not limited to such size.

The strips are preferably of about oneappropriate stock is of a kind known in the trade as felt paper and has a noticeable surface texture and is suitably porous.

These strips are placed by flat application thereof to any suitable or desired backing, which within this invention may be any erected wall, partition or, fence, but in the production of a commercial, simulative product the backing may be of any suitable, substantial sheet or panel of paper, or of cloth, or of a desired fabricated fiber. For the fixation of the strips 2 to backing 3 a pre-colored, efiicient paste or adhesive; papier mach paste being an example, is liberally coated on the strips to give them the desired color on the face and to efilciently hold them to the backing the face of which also may be coated with the adhesive. The strips are laid more or less parallel to one another on the backing and firmly pressed to position thereon to obtain a reliable binding, and the strips are to some degree overlapped to show edge surfaces in thefashion of natural bark of trees.

The laminated sheets or panel units of this method are suitably stable to be safely handled in a generally flat stock form. and are flexible enough to permit of their being lapped onto curved surfaces in simulation of stumps, or trunks, or branches of trees, particularly cedar. They are tough but readily cuttable by hand shears into an endless variety of realistic tree simulating structures; cleanliness of the product being a particular characteristic.

The great variation of the rough tear of the edges of the strips results, in the finished panel or sheet, in such a roughness of the face of the laminated or strip covered face of the backing 3 as to be highly effective in tree-bark simulation.

At such space intervals as may be desired short lengths of the strip 2 are more or less circularly, flatly coiled into the likeness of'ftreebark, branch holes or outlets 4 from a trunk and these rings 4 are coated with the said pre-colored paste and pressed to the desired position on the backing or over laid strips as may be desired to make the natural appearance of branch hole in the bark.

The edges of the strips are manipulated and the pie-colored paste is applied in a manner to form small knurls and irregular features to simulate those of the natural tree bark.

What is claimed is:

1. Simulating tree-bark in appearance and touch by producing strips having irregular but generally straight longitudinal tree bark simulating edges, thoroughly coating the strips with a pre-colored adhesive paste and aflixing the strips with the edges thereof contiguous and interruptedly, longitudinally overlapping in generally tree-bark arrangement and field covering to a desired suport.

2. Simulating tree-bark by producing strips having irregular serrate longitudinal bark simulating edges and afilxing the strips in generally parallel fashion and field covering substantially edge to edge contiguity to a suitable backing by a pre-colored adhesive which stains the face of the strips.

3. The method of claim 2, and in which portions of the laid strips are in asymmetrical overlapping positions in tree-bark style.

4. The method of claim 2, and coiling pieces of the strips into flat rings and applying the rings to the backing in branch-hole simulation.

5. Making elongate strips with serrate barkedge like edges from a suitable absorbent stock and pasting the strips in tree-bark edge dissimilarity to a more or less fiat faced stock or support by an adhesive paste and with portions of the strips overlapped in asymmetricaland longitudinally interrupted bark edge manner.

6. Making elongate strips with serrate barklike edges from a suitable stock, supporting a flexible backing sheet for application of the strips, and affixing the strips in parallel, generally contiguous and interrupted overlapped bark-edge arrangement to the supported backing by an adhesive and coloring the strips by the same adhesive.

'7. Tearing elongate strips from a paper, or cloth or fibrous sheet or suitable stock supply to effect a rough, tree-bark simulating longitudinal edge, coating the strips with a coloring agent and afiixing the strips to a desired support in bark-simulating arrangement with edges generally laterally contiguous.

8. Making a flexible, tree-bark simulating panel or sheet by tearing elongate strips in a manner to form bark-edge figure edges from a flexible stock material, and aflixing the strips in barkedge asymmetrical style to a flexible and outtable sheet form backing by a pre-colored adhesive to color the face of the strips and also afix the strips to the backing.

HENRY WILLIAM MENARD. 

